Blow toy



' 1 May 19,' 1970 c. MEYER BLOW TOY Filed Dec. 6, 1967.

FIG. 3

FIG. 4

NVENTORZ chrisi'ian He er United States Patent Ofiice 3,512,299 Patented May 19, 1970 3,512,299 BLOW TOY Christian Meyer, Nuremberg, Germany, assignor to Jean Hofler & Co., KG, Bavaria, Germany Filed Dec. 6, 1967, Ser. No. 688,417 Claims priority, application Germany, July 22, 1967,

59,66 Int. Cl. A63h 33/40 US. Cl. 4653 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A toy, for example, in the form of a merry-go-round, which comprises an air turbine which is driven when an air current is blown against it and has two impellers carrying toy figures which are rotatable in opposite directions and adapted to carry out wobbling motions.

The present invention relates to a blow toy which comprises at least one air turbine with an impeller which carries toy figures and is rotatable about an axis.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a toy of this type which is designed so as to be able to carry out different motions and thereby to be of greater interest to a child playing with it. According to the invention this object is attained by rotatably mounting the impeller shaft of the air turbine so as to be pivotable about its lower end and, if desired, also to be movable to ,a limited extent in its axial direction so that the shaft while rotating will carry out a conical movement and a platform thereon carrying the toy figures and resembling, for example, the platform of a merry-go-round will carry out a wobbling motion as well, as, if desired, an up and down motion.

It is one feature of the invention that the air supply channel terminates underneath the impeller so that the air current which is blown into the mouthpiece of the toy will strike the impeller blades in an upward and inclined direction, thus promoting up-and-down as well as Wobbling motions of the platform on the impeller.

It is another feature of the invention that the childs interest and desire to play with this toy will be increased by providing it with two coaxial impellers one of which has a larger diameter than the other so that its impeller blades are struck by the air current at a greater radial distance from the impeller shaft than the other.

By supplying the air current from below to the two impellers, both of them will during the oscillations of their common shaft always be struck and driven by the same air current. By providing a suitable control valve between the two impellers, it is then possible to vary the supply of air to each of them so that they may rotate at different adjustable angular velocities.

While the two impellers may be designed so as to rotate in the same direction, it is another feature of the invention to provide the blades of the two impellers so as to extend in opposite directions. The two impellers will then also rotate in opposite directions which in connection with the oscillations of the common shaft will imitate to a still greater extent the movements of a merry-go-round and increase the childs interest in operating and playing with this toy. In view of the oscillations of the common impeller shaft, it is advisable according to another feature of the invention to connect one of the two impellers rigidly to this shaft, while the other is freely rotatable thereon.

These and other features and advantages of the present invention will become further apparent from the following detailed description thereof which is to be read with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of a blow toy according to the invention in the form of a merry-go-round;

FIG. 2 shows a perspective view of the larger impeller of the blow toy according to FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 shows a perspective view of the smaller impeller from which a part is broken away to illustrate the turbine blades which extend in the opposite direction to the blades of the larger impeller; while FIG. 4 shows a vertical longitudinal section which is taken along the line IV-IV of FIG. 1.

The toy according to the invention is provided in the form of a merry-go-round and comprises a flute-shaped part 1 which has an inlet opening 2 in its front end and is provided at a certain distance therefrom with whistle openings 3. The rear end of the flute part 1 carries a circular plate 4 which forms the bottom of the merry-goround and serves as a support for the impellers. At its rear end, the upper wall of the flute part 1 is step-shaped at 5, whereby the air inlet channel 6 is provided with a constricted end portion 7.

The upper side of plate 4 is provided with a conical recess 8 which serves as a pivot bearing of a turbine shaft 9 which is adapted to carry out an oscillating movement.

Rigidly secured to this shaft 9 is a larger impeller 10, as shown separately in FIG. 2, which is provided with blades 11 which extend substantially tangentially and vertically to its annular top plate and to plate 4. The annular top plate of the impeller 10 carries a plurality of toy figures 12, for example, in the form of rockets, and it is connected to the shaft 9 by a crosspiece 13. The arms of this crosspiece 13 and the inner wall of the top plate of the impeller 10 define openings 14 through which the air which is blown into the opening 2 of the mouth-piece may pass to the smaller impeller 15.

This impeller 15 which is shown separately in FIG. 3 is freely rotatable on shaft 9 and supported in its axial direction at 16 on the impeller 10. It consists of an inverted cup-shaped part 17 in which turbine blades 18 are provided which likewise extend vertically and substantially tangentially, but in directions opposite to those of the blades 11. The upper surface of the part 17 of this impeller 15 carries near its periphery a moon figure 19.

The upper end of shaft 9 projects loosely and especially with lateral play into a small inverted cup 20 which is connected by a plurality of flat arches 21 to theouter housing 22 of the merry-go-round.

For conducting the air which is blown into the inlet opening 2 of the flute part 1 to the two impellers 10 and 15, plate 4 is provided underneath the blades 11 of the larger impeller 10 with a pair of vents 23 which are oppositely inclined in the upward direction and communicate with the channel 7. Plate 4 is further provided within the cylinder from which the blades 11 project with a pair of hollow projections 24 the open lower ends of which communicate with the air channel 7, while their upper ends are provided with vents 25 which are located underneath the blades 18 of the smaller impeller 15 and direct the blown air tangentially in an inclined upward direction.

The inventive design and structure of the new toy in the form of an air-propelled merry-go-round permits the common shaft of the two impellers 10 and 15 to oscillate in a vertical direction and especially in lateral directions so as to be movable along a conical path, while the two impellers will rotate simultaneously in opposite directions which simulates the operation of a normal merry-goround.

In order to facilitate the assembly of the toy and to increase its stability, the outer housing 22 of the merry-goround to provide with an inverted U-shaped arm 26 the 3 lateral sides 29 of which embrace the flute part 1. Its upper side is provided with a slot 27 through which a figure 32 simulating a group of children projects and is secured to the pipe stem 1. This arm 26 is further provided with an aperture 28 through which a tubuiar projection extends which surrounds the whistle opening 3. At the inside of the housing 22 is a walk 30 which leads from both sides to the cashiers stand 31 and from which the children can step onto the annular platform of the merry-go-round.

Although my invention has been illustrated and described with reference to the preferred embodiment thereof, I wish to have it understood that it is in no way limited to the details of such embodiment but is capable of numerous modifications within the scope of the appended claims.

Having thus fully disclosed my invention, what I claim 1. A blow toy comprising an air turbine having a shaft and at least one impeller on said shaft, said impeller carrying toy figures, and bearing means for rotatably mounting said shaft pivotably about its lower end and with lateral play at its upper end, whereby said shaft may carry out oscillating motions.

2. A blow toy as defined in claim 1, wherein said bearing means comprise a lower pivot bearing and an upper cup-shaped bearing, for said shaft, the upper end of said shaft when not being driven being spaced from the lateral and upper walls of said cup-shaped bearing, whereby said shaft when driven may carry out conical movements as well as movements in its axial direction.

3. A blow toy as defined in claim 1, further comprising a housing containing said impeller, and a mouthpiece on said housing, said mouthpiece and said housing having an air channel terminating at one end underneath said impeller whereby the air current will strike said impeller from below.

4. A blow toy as defined in claim 3, wherein two impellers are disposed coaxially on said shaft, one of said impellers having a larger diameter than the other, and separate vent means within said housing and communicating with said channel for conducting the air to each of said impellers, said vent means for said larger impeller being disposed at a larger radial distance from the axis of said shaft than said vent means for the smaller impeller.

5. A blow toy as defined in claim 4, wherein the blades of the two impellers extend in different directions whereby said impellers will rotate in opposite directions to each other when air is blown into said mouthpiece.

-6. A blow toy as defined in claim 4 wherein one of said impellers is rigidly secured to said shaft and the other impeller is freely rotatable thereon.

.7. A blow toy as defined in claim 2, further comprising a housing containing said impeller, and a mouthpiece on said housing, said mouth piece and said housing having an-air channel terminating at one end underneath said impeller whereby the air current will strike said impeller from below.

8. A blow toy as defined in claim 7, wherein two impellers are disposed coaxially on said shaft, one of said impellers having a larger diameter than the other, and separate vent means within said housing and communicating with said channei for conducting the air to each of said impellers, said vent means for said larger impeller being disposed at a larger distance from the axis of said shaft than said vent means for the smaller impeller.

9. A blow toy as defined in claim 8, wherein the blades of the two impellers extend in different directions whereby said impellers will rotate in opposite directions to each other when air is blown into said mouthpiece.

10. A blow toy as defined in claim 8, wherein one of said impellers is rigidly secured to said shaft and the other impeller is freely rotatable thereon.

References Cited U ITED STATES PATENTS 1,012,409 12/1911 Monper 46-56 Y 2,425,212 8/1947 Stru-mor 46-56 2,544,594 3/1951 Goldfarb 46-55 ANTONIO F. GUIDA, Primary Examiner R. F. CUTTING, Assistant Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 46-56; 27227 

